Saturday, 17 March 2018

"I met the guys who found the Crosby Garret mask
and they both metal detect full time, lots and lots of research, lots of door
knocking and absolutely no random land digging, they just target known or
suspected hot spots based on historical research and have made some fantastic
finds, including hoards, swords, etc, enough to make a living."

'Lots and lots of research' translated does not mean 'citizen archaeology' as Bloomsbury would have people believe, it really means locate known and suspected sites and target them to fill their pockets. Those hoards and swords are 'enough to make a living'.

Wednesday, 14 March 2018

The antiquities trade operates in a similar manner, actual origins of dodgy objects from weakened source countries are obscured by shipping through several intermediaries: Ivory traffickers can make up to $1.3m for a single shipment. Find out how they get the tusks from Africa and onto the black market in China The Economist (@TheEconomist) 14 marca 2018

The seven posts in the thread thread 'Civil war battlesites' on a metal detecting forum near you, where the PAS never go, can hardly be said to be epitomes of responsible Collection-Driven Exploitation of the archaeological record and best practice (post by chrisbham » Tue Mar 13, 2018 8:34 pm) [PS see update, here is the cached version]:

Hi all,
So (sic) I was having a wonder (sic) down a public footpath boarding (sic) my new permission and up walks a guy and asks what I found (sic) etc. I didn't know who he was so stressed I wasn't detecting in that specific area as it wasn't my permission. Long story short, lots of the surround (sic) land is his and he offers me permission for his land (which is packed with REALLY interesting history) and we exchange details, which includes a (sic) undetected civil war battlesite where only he has had a swing himself and found musket balls around.
I've found reports online about the battle which from the archaeological report which also states no official metal detecting survey has been completed.
Legally am I allowed to detecting on the battlefield field? It's on private land, but is a registered battle site with public foot paths. Besides the legality of it I wouldn't want others seeing me there with a detector and assume it's a free for all so perhaps a hi-vis to look official?
Advise? Cheers

Another one using archaeological reports to target areas from which to grab artefacts for their collection. How ironic he's worried at drawing attention of other artefact hunters (that's the ones that absolutely cannot read, I guess) to this known site.

UPDATE 16.03.16

If you follow the link I gave you'll now see this:

Information
The requested topic does not exist.

The Tekkie thought-police have been active again.I think the idea is to get rid of the incriminating evidence that UKtekkiedom is not actually, really, the nice citizeny-archaeologyish thing that it is incessantly portrayed as, but how telling it is that even the moderators of this hotbed of pretend-responsibility cannot actually spot a dodgy post on their own forum until a helpful archaeoblogger points it out to them.

It's time for all dealers to step up and question the
materials that are arriving at their gates; turning a blind eye is not
acceptable (Nicola Guest (Director, Alchemy Metals Ltd) 'It’s Time to Challenge and Ask the Right Questions
') that goes for roofing lead as well as metal detected objects.

Even if the seller appears to have a genuine reason for being in possession of the material, don't accept it at face-value, question it. Request a letter of approval from the source of the lead. Hold the materials in quarantine until such confirmation is received. We do this as standard and have never received anything other than support from the sellers of these materials. If the seller questions this process, it's time to call the police.

The MOTB masquerades as an educational institution, all the while quietly partnering with organizations like Johnston’s Christian Thinkers Society who are able to do the work the MOTB’s official mission statement precludes museum officials from doing directly. What we are left with is a mutually beneficial pseudo-academic partnership. What we are left with is a museum pretending to be something it’s not, an evangelical wolf in scholarly sheep’s clothing—whose officials are more than happy to stand by, and even encourage, slippage around what the aims and claims of biblical scholarship actually are. It is not a pretty picture.

What I do not understand is the apparent US fixation on the theme of text transmission.

About Me

British archaeologist living and working in Warsaw, Poland. Since the early 1990s (or even longer) a primary interest has been research on artefact hunting and collecting and the market in portable antiquities in the international context and their effect on the archaeological record.

Abbreviations used in this blog

"coiney" - a term I use for private collector of dug up ancient coins, particularly a member of the Moneta-L forum or the ACCG

"heap-of-artefacts-on-a-table-collecting" the term rather speaks for itself, an accumulation of loose artefacts with no attempt to link each item with documented origins. Most often used to refer to metal detectorists (ice-cream tubs-full) and ancient coin collectors (Roman coins sold in aggregated bulk lots)